Chicago library cuts could affect job-seekers and children

Chicago is proposing to cut library hours and staff to shore up budget

October 25, 2011|By Melissa Jenco, Tribune reporter

Renata Almahdi, a baby sitter seated at center, reads to Maia Roberts, 2, as Adriana Estrada, right, reads to nephew Axell Cline this month at The Mighty Twig, a volunteer-led library that was created in Evanston after a neighborhood library branch was closed. (Chris Walker, Chicago Tribune)

When Charles Mason was laid off from his job as a truck driver two years ago, he turned to the Chicago Public Library, scouring the Internet for a new driving job that could support his family better than his meager unemployment check.

Though back at work now, he almost daily visits the library, where his children study and his wife, who works as a clerk, can earn a paycheck.

"It's a lifeline," said Mason, 45, a Back of the Yards resident.

At a time when libraries have become a beacon for job-seekers like Mason, the city is proposing reduced hours and hundreds of staff layoffs to shore up its own budget.

The cuts come despite library visitors continuing to rise on a statewide and national level, though Chicago has seen a drop in visitors overall in recent years after library hours were cut.

Nationwide, there were 1.5 billion library visits in fiscal year 2008, the most recent year available. That's up from 1.28 billion in 2003 and 1.09 billion in 1998, according to studies by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and National Center for Education Statistics. Illinois followed the same trend with 77.6 million visitors in fiscal year 2008, up from 63.9 million in 2003 and 57.1 million in 1998, the studies showed.

Experts attribute the increases to patrons looking for jobs, belt-tighteners choosing to borrow books instead of buying them and libraries' growing digital collections.

In 2010, Chicago library officials estimated about 11.6 million visitors walked through their doors, down from 13.4 million in 2009. This year's numbers also are expected to drop to about 11 million.

Circulation was trending upward from 2005 to 2010, when branch hours were reduced. The library has circulated 7.2 million items through September this year, slightly less than from January through September 2010.

Total library cardholders in Chicago also were trending upward from about 2004 to 2008, when inactive cardholders were removed, and has continued to rise since that time.

But both nationwide and locally, libraries have been struggling with shrinking budgets. Around the country, roughly 16 percent of libraries have decreased their hours from 2009 to 2010, according to the American Library Association.

Chicago already laid off 120 employees in 2009 after negotiations with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees failed to produce a compromise on pay cuts. Last year, the city reduced hours at library branches by 16 per week.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel recently proposed saving $6.6 million from 2012's budget by laying off 284 library employees and cutting about eight hours a week at branches. The details ultimately will be worked out in union negotiations, but the current proposal calls for cutbacks on Monday and Friday morning hours.

The city has said the proposed cuts are better than what was originally on the table — closing at least eight libraries — but the city is open to hearing alternatives from aldermen.

"Keeping all branch libraries open provides the greatest amount of access to the largest number of Chicagoans in the most communities," city spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle said in an email.

Still, the proposal has drawn the ire of aldermen and residents alike.

Debbie Rundquist, 52, of Logan Square, said she finds another round of cutbacks frustrating, especially at a time when bookstores are closing.

"It was something you could depend on … it was always there," Rundquist said of the library.

Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey told aldermen during a recent budget hearing that the proposed staff cuts, equivalent to about one-third of her staff, will affect all of the city's libraries.

Besides those library employees who lose their jobs, experts say young children and people hit hardest by the floundering economy will feel the impact of library cuts the most.

In the first nine months of this year, the Chicago Public Library system offered 15,228 children's programs, serving 418,055 children of all ages, according to Dempsey. Librarians also made 740 visits to area schools to talk to teachers and students about what they can offer. But with fewer librarians, those programs will likely shrink. Reducing morning hours also closes the library at a time of day popular with young children, according to Lynn Elam, president of the Illinois Library Association.

Elam said helping children get a jump-start on school through reading is a big part of what libraries do.

Marco Dudek, 61, of Logan Square, said the library keeps children off the streets, and reduced hours would be "unfair."

"(City officials) say they want to improve education for children … and this seems like it would be adverse to that," he said.

American Library Association President Molly Raphael said that while libraries serve all ages and demographics, hour cutbacks also would be harmful to low-income patrons who have fewer alternatives for accessing books and the Internet.

"When they're closed, they really shut out a lot of people who have limited time when they could actually get there," Raphael said.

She also has seen a trend of job-seekers like Mason turning to libraries to apply for jobs online and learn how to improve their resumes. In the Chicago system, roughly 60 percent of the adults using computers are looking for work, Dempsey said, and the library system also offers hundreds of workshops on financial literacy and job searching.

"It's another bad, shortsighted choice when it comes to our finances," Julie Nelson, 34, of Logan Square, said of the city's budget proposal. "It makes cuts to people who need services the most."